Platinum is a metal that is resistant to corrosion and oxidation. The electrical, chemical and physical properties of platinum make it particularly well-suited for some applications in integrated circuitry fabrication. For example, nanoclusters of platinum particles may be well-suited for utilization as charge-trapping centers of non-volatile memory cells.
A problem in using platinum is that its resistance to corrosion and oxidation also makes it difficult to subtractively pattern into desired shapes by etching. For instance, a chemical commonly used for etching platinum is a highly corrosive mixture of nitric acid and HCl. Unfortunately, such mixture will attack numerous other compositions associated with integrated circuitry, and thus may not be suitable during integrated circuitry fabrication.
It would be desirable to develop new methods for etching platinum, particularly for use in integrated circuit fabrication.